Factors Influencing Completion Rate of Road Construction Projects in Kisii County Kenya

Abstract

The majority of road construction projects in Kenya do not get completed within the initially set targets of time. Project delays frustrate the process of development, have an immeasurable cost implication to the society, and also lead to loss of reputation of the parties involved in the projects‘ execution. This study aims to find out factors that influence completion of road construction projects in Kisii County Kenya. The research was guided by the following research objectives; to establish the extent to which availability of resources influences completion of road construction projects, to determine the influence of competency of staff toward completion of roads construction project, to establish the extent to which stakeholder participation influences completion of road construction projects and finally to determine the influence of procurement procedures on completion of road construction projects. The study focused on how resources, competency of staff, stakeholder participation and procurement procedures influence completion of road construction projects. The research design to be used was descriptive research design. The target of this study was 106 respondents which comprised of road contractors in Kisii County while study population was government officials‘ representatives from Ministry of Roads, Contractors (supervisors in the projects), technical consultants by contractors, Engineer from Kisii County and technical auditors participating in road construction projects in Kisii County Kenya. The study employed stratified sampling technique in coming up with a sample size of 42 from a total population of 106. The study relied mostly on primary data sources where self-administered questionnaires were utilized as source of data. Quantitative data was coded and entered into Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Presentation of analyzed data was in form of frequency tables which facilitated easy understanding and interpretation of the results. The findings of this study will help policy makers on key issues related to project development and management with particular reference to road and other infrastructure development and construction. Project managers can also benefit immensely from understanding some of the underlying causes of project construction delays as will be documented by this study. The study concluded that availability of resources influenced completion of road construction projects and one of the resources that is mostly not enough is financial resource. The study also concluded that competency of staff also influences completion of road construction projects since if the staff have the required skills, experience and knowledge in the area this would help them undertake the task placed on them. Lastly the study concluded that stakeholder participation also influences completion of road construction projects and that stakeholders should be encouraged to participate in projects. The study recommended that there should be stakeholder engagements to ensure that ideas and perspectives are represented, members of stakeholder group should be invited to participate in project scope identification and planning.